Vinculum
by slowroad
Summary: Written for the hd smoochfest 2013. A spell goes wrong in Defence class and leaves Harry and Draco bonded together. They find out that it was a mating spell that resulted in them being connected emotionally and magically. So they are forced to live together and to somehow learn to be a couple.


**Disclaimer:** All Harry Potter characters herein are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Warning:** none

**Epilogue compliant?** No. But canon compliant otherwise.

**Author's Notes:** I loved this prompt when I saw it and I tried to do it justice. It was quite a challenge to write, particularly the slow development of the relationship between Harry and Draco. A big thank you to my beta, Butterbly who was a huge help. Every time I slipped a little or wrote something that didn't seem to fit with the story or the characters, she called me on it and I rewrote it. This story is all the better for the rewrites.

...

His head was throbbing with pain when he finally woke up. His entire body ached and he felt like there were ants crawling up and down his skin. It was terribly unpleasant. Harry opened his eyes and he saw a very worried looking Hermione leaning over him. They were in the hospital wing. '_Damn!_'

"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed. "How do you feel?" she asked, though it sounded as if she already knew the answer to that question. Ron was standing next to her looking equally concerned.

"I feel horrible," Harry said and then he groaned. He turned his head this way and that in an attempt to get more comfortable. It was then that he noticed Draco Malfoy lying in a bed a few feet away from him. He seemed to be asleep. But he had a frown on his face and he didn't look too comfortable.

"What is Malfoy doing here?" Harry asked.

Hermione sighed. "How much do you remember?"

"Um...We were in Defence class," Harry said as he squirmed uncomfortably. '_Damn it! What is with that itch?'_"And Malfoy and I were supposed to duel and..." He broke off shaking his head. He remembered standing up in the front of the classroom, facing Malfoy and then...nothing. "I don't remember anything after that," he said.

"You raised your wands and cast a spell each and your wands locked," Hermione said.

"Our wands locked? How is that possible?"

"We don't know, mate. It was really weird," Ron said.

"As I said, your wands locked and then there was this flash of light around the two of you. It was so bright, we couldn't see anything and then you both screamed like you were in pain and the next thing we knew you were both unconscious," Hermione said.

"Bloody hell!" Harry said, wondering for the millionth time why every strange thing that ever happened in school happened to him. His headache was getting worse and his skin felt like it was on fire. "Where is Madam Pomfrey?" he asked irritably.

"She's with Professor McGonagall," Hermione replied.

"I'll go fetch her, mate," Ron said, and then he left. He too was wondering if life would ever be normal for Harry. After everything he had done, he deserved that much, surely.

"What is she doing with Professor McGonagall?" Harry said.

"I think she suspects something. But she's not sure. If you ask me, it's Dumbledore's portrait that she's gone to talk to," Hermione said.

There was a groan from the other bed. Draco was stirring. He opened his eyes and sat up, looking very confused. He was dreadfully uncomfortable. He saw Harry lying on a bed a few feet away from him and he wondered what was happening. '_Why am I in the infirmary? I don't remember being sick,_' he thought.

"What happened?" Draco said.

Hermione told him. Draco couldn't believe what he was hearing. It sounded too bizarre to be true. He looked over at Harry with a question on his face. Harry shrugged indicating that he couldn't believe what he was hearing either.

They sat in silence trying to process everything that they'd heard when the door opened and Madam Pomfrey walked in along with Professor McGonagall. Ron came in after them. Harry wondered where Malfoy's friends were and then he remembered that Zabini and Parkinson didn't take DADA anymore, so they hadn't been in class when all of this had happened. They probably didn't even know that Malfoy was in the infirmary.

His thoughts were interrupted by Madam Pomfrey, who was approaching him with her wand in hand. She cast a series of spells on him and then she moved over to Draco's bed and did the same.

"How do you feel, Mr Malfoy?" she asked.

"I feel awful," he said.

"That much is obvious, but what are your symptoms, exactly?"

"I have a terrible headache. In fact, my entire body aches and I feel like there are ants crawling up and down my skin. It's like an itch and it is very irritating," he said. It was obvious that he was trying to be calm, and that it was taking a bit of an effort.

Harry looked up, feeling startled to hear his own symptoms mirrored like that. Madam Pomfrey looked curiously at him. "Mr Potter, am I right in thinking that your symptoms are the same?" she said. Harry nodded, feeling dazed. Draco raised his eyebrows at that. He was feeling thoroughly confused.

"Okay, what is going on?" Harry asked.

"I want to try something," Madam Pomfrey said. "Please push the two beds together, Mr Weasley."

"What? Why?" Ron said looking startled.

"Just do it, Ron," Hermione said softly. Ron walked up to the side of Harry's bed and pushed it right up against the other bed.

Harry was wondering what had got into Madam Pomfrey when he realised that his headache was easing, he felt lighter and that the irritating itch was subsiding.

"What the hell!" Draco said, looking suspiciously at Harry.

"What is going on? Why do I suddenly feel better? What does pushing our beds together have to do with it?" Harry asked. He was starting to get a bit frustrated. He hated being put in situations that he did not understand.

Draco, though, was beginning to understand and he really did not like what he was thinking. He did not like it at all. He groaned and put his head in his hands. "Please tell me that this is not what I think it is," he said.

"I'm sorry, Mr Malfoy, but I think you're right. We don't know exactly what happened, or how it did, but whatever it was, it's left you bonded...to each other," Madam Pomfrey said.

"Bloody hell!" Draco said and thumped his head against the headboard, looking thoroughly miserable. He'd suspected as much, but that didn't mean that he was ready to hear it.

Professor McGonagall frowned at his language but she figured that the situation probably warranted that kind of a reaction, so she let it go. Ron went red in the face. He clenched his fists and swallowed. It seemed as if he was trying hard not to punch the wall. Hermione was staring wide eyed at the mediwitch as if she couldn't believe what she had just heard.

"What does that mean?" Harry said. The only kind of bonding he'd ever heard about was a part of wizarding marriage rituals. '_Please tell that is not what has happened here. It couldn't have. We were going to duel, for Merlin's sake!_'

"Harry, it means that the two of you are connected and will be, for the rest of your lives, unless the bond can be broken somehow," Hermione said. "The bond obviously demands proximity—that's why all your painful symptoms went away when you moved closer together—so you'll need to be close to each other. You'll need to get to know each other and get along as best as you can."

"We'll be connected for the rest of our lives? Connected how? Please tell me you're not saying what I think you are."

Hermione looked helplessly at Professor McGonagall. She had no idea how to explain this to Harry. Professor McGonagall sighed. She hated to be the bearer of bad news, particularly when Harry was concerned, but she had to tell him.

"From what we have been able to gather, it seems that this bond is the result of some kind of a mating spell," she said. "So I would say that the two of you are effectively a couple now."

Harry paled and Draco looked like he was going to be sick.

"I understand that this is very difficult for you to accept," she said, looking at Draco and then at Harry. "But you really have no choice, so I suggest that you don't fight it."

"But...how can something like that possibly happen?"

"We don't know, Mr Potter, but it has," Professor McGonagall said. "We don't know much about the bond yet, but we're trying to find out. In the meantime, I would appreciate it if the two of you would accept your situation and deal with it like adults. You are eighteen years old and I would hate to treat you like children. Please see that you don't give me cause."

Harry turned to see how Draco was taking this. The blond was staring at the wall, looking utterly miserable. But there was none of the yelling and swearing that Harry would've expected from him. Maybe the war had changed him after all.

"Can the bond be broken?" Harry asked hopefully.

"That is another thing that we don't know yet," Professor McGonagall said. "But we should be able to find out. For now, though, it would be in your best interest if you tried to get along with each other."

Harry sighed and wondered how that was ever going to happen. He didn't hate Draco anymore. They had, in fact, been quite civil to each other over the past few months. But there was too much history between them. They had been bitter rivals for years. That wasn't just going to go away. Draco was wondering about that too. When he'd come back to Hogwarts, he'd decided to put the past behind him, but that plan had depended on staying well out of Harry's way. '_And that is not going to happen now so, basically, I'm screwed._'

"Well, I think that answers most of your questions," Madam Pomfrey said. "Don't hesitate to ask if you have any more. It is getting to be lunch time, gentlemen, so I suggest you eat and try to get some sleep. You've had rather a harrowing couple of hours. You need all the rest you can get."

Harry nodded dumbly. What else was he going to do? Draco nodded as well, though he continued to look miserable.

"I will be informing your mother of this development, Mr Malfoy, and I assume she'll be coming to see you soon," Professor McGonagall said and Draco felt a bit relieved. It would be a real comfort to talk to his mother.

"I'd like to tell Molly and Arthur about this, Mr Potter, if you don't mind," she continued.

"Of course not, Professor," Harry said, thinking it would be comforting to talk to Mr and Mrs Weasley about this. After all, they were the closest thing he had to parents.

"Miss Granger, Mr Weasley, I suggest you join the rest of the school for lunch and then you get back to your classes."

Hermione and Ron nodded. "You take care, Harry," Hermione said. "You too, Malfoy." Draco was very surprised. He hadn't expected Harry's friends to acknowledge his presence even, considering how cruelly he used to mock them when they were younger. But Hermione seemed to be making an effort to be civil.

"I will. Thanks," he said as politely as he could.

"Take care, mate," Ron said and then he nodded briefly at Malfoy before following Hermione out of the infirmary.

"Get some rest, gentleman. I will come back to talk to you in the evening and then we'll decide what to do about your classes and your living arrangements and so on," McGonagall said and then she left as well.

Madam Pomfrey came back with their lunch, bade them to eat and retreated into her office. And then Harry and Draco found themselves alone with each other. Harry had no idea what to say or how to behave. He sighed and rubbed his eyes. He was exhausted and angry and he couldn't believe this new turn that his life had taken. He had come back to Hogwarts after the war hoping to have one quiet school year in which he would get to live the life of a regular student. Where the biggest of his worries would be his homework and his NEWTS.

'_Instead, here I am, bonded to Draco Malfoy, possibly, for the rest of my life._' That thought was so surreal that Harry was almost tempted to think that this was all some elaborate joke. It was only the fact that he could still feel magic buzzing under his skin, and that he could feel Malfoy and his emotions like a warm presence at the back of his mind, that convinced him that the situation was very real indeed.

They ate their meal in silence. Draco was miserable and he could feel that Harry was miserable too. There was a part of him that wanted to talk to the other man, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He didn't particularly care how they had ended up here, but he certainly wondered why. Hadn't they all been through enough what with the war and everything that had followed?

Draco had been looking forward to a quiet school year in which he kept his head down, worked hard and tried to salvage something out of the wreckage that his life had become since the day he had been foolish enough to give into pressure from his father and take the bloody Dark Mark.

But now, just a month after he'd come back to school, he found himself bonded to Harry Potter. Why? He asked himself again. Why did something so idiotic have to happen? He risked a quick glance at Harry who was staring at his plate and eating in silence. He looked tired and miserable. And Draco felt a pang of regret. Harry had already done so much for everyone. He'd done so much for Draco personally, right from saving him from the Fiendfyre to speaking for him and his mother in front of the Wizengamot and keeping them out of Azkaban. Surely, he deserved some rest after all that. He didn't deserve to find himself bonded against his will to someone that he'd hated (with reason) for nearly seven years of his life.

They finished their lunch and took the potions that Madam Pomfrey insisted on giving them and then they tried to sleep. They hadn't said one word to each other since they'd bonded. It was not as if they were enemies anymore—too much had happened during the war and after, for that to be the case. They had, in fact, managed to be quite polite to each other ever since they had come back to Hogwarts, but they had kept their distance. There had not been any reason to do otherwise. After all, it was not like they could ever be friends. Draco would've been content to finish the school year peacefully and never see Harry again. But now they were bonded. And, unless the bond could be broken, they would have to be together for the rest of their lives...live as spouses. '_How, in Merlin's name, will we manage that?_' Draco thought. He was still wondering about that when he gave into the exhaustion and fell asleep. Harry dozed off soon after.

...

Draco woke up to the sound of voices after what was a fitful nap. He opened his eyes and saw Blaise and Pansy standing by the foot of his bed and talking to Madam Pomfrey. They hadn't been in DADA with him so they had probably heard what had happened only at lunch time. All the eighth years who had been in class with them would have been buzzing with the news. He was glad to see them. They provided a glimpse of normalcy in a world that felt seriously off kilter just then.

He sat up and smiled at them. But the smile was quickly replaced by a frown as his head started aching and he began to feel itchy again. He turned to his left and noticed that Harry was lying on his side, turned away from him. The distance between them had increased a little bit but that wasn't enough to make the symptoms return, surely. He looked up when he realised that his friends as well as Madam Pomfrey were asking him what was wrong.

"I...the symptoms are coming back," he said. He noticed that Harry was shifting in his sleep. And then he woke up. Harry looked acutely uncomfortable. He complained that the itch was back and he said that there was a strange hollowness in his chest.

"Mr Potter, Mr Malfoy, shift a bit closer to each other, if you will," Madam Pomfrey said.

They both looked like they wanted to protest, but then they decided against it. They shifted so they were separated only by a couple of inches.

"The bond is acting up," the mediwitch murmured as she pulled out her wand and started running spells over them again.

"What do you mean?" Harry said.

"Have you two spoken to each other at all since this morning?" she prompted.

"No. Not really," Draco said.

"Is there any particular reason for that?" Madam Pomfrey said, looking severely at the two of them.

"There was nothing to talk about," Harry offered.

"The bond's demand for proximity has become stronger, gentleman. That is why your symptoms came back. This will keep happening, unless you make an attempt to get along," she said. She looked like she was going to say more, but then there was a chime from the Floo in her office and she had to go attend to it.

'_What does she mean? We are getting along...We may not have been talking to each other, but it's not like we're fighting_,' Harry thought with a puzzled frown that was mirrored in Draco's face when he looked up at him. They stared at each other for a couple of seconds and then they turned away.

Blaise and Pansy watched this exchange in silence. They had been shocked when Madam Pomfrey had told them about the bond and they were wondering how on Earth Harry and Draco would get along with each other. But things seemed a lot more peaceful than they would've expected. However, both Draco and Harry looked miserable so they decided not to bring up the bond. They talked about classes and what Draco had missed and then Pansy shared some gossip. It was obvious that she was doing everything that she could to cheer Draco up and keep him from dwelling on his situation.

'_It's the sort of thing that Hermione might do,_' Harry thought.

Blaise didn't say much, but he stood by silently offering his support in a way that reminded Harry very much of Ron. '_Not that Ron will appreciate that comparison_,' he thought with a smile.

Blaise and Pansy left soon after that and Harry and Draco were alone again. Harry realised that he needed to use the bathroom, but he couldn't just get up and go, like a normal person. He would have to ask Draco to go with him, if he didn't want to end up with that miserable itch and that terrible hollowness in his chest again. '_How bloody embarrassing!_'

Draco seemed to sense something. "What is it?" he asked.

"I need use the bathroom."

"Thank Merlin! Me too."

"This is embarrassing," Harry said.

"Get over it, Potter. It's not like we have a choice," Draco said.

They made their way to the bathroom and, once there, they tried to get as far away from each other as possible, which, unfortunately, was not very far. They tried to take care of business without looking at each other, but they were acutely aware of each other and in that position, at that moment, it was terribly awkward. They were both red faced when they got back to their beds. Neither of them was able to ignore the thought that they would have to do this every time one of them had to use the bathroom.

How would they bathe, if they couldn't be more than a few inches away from each other? '_This is horrible!_' Harry thought, feeling sick with embarrassment. He couldn't bring himself to look at Draco. If he had, he would have seen an equally mortified expression on the other man's face. The result of this little episode was that they clammed up even more. They wouldn't look at each other or talk to each other. They sat in a determined silence for about half an hour. Harry found himself wishing that Ron and Hermione would come and see him. '_They should be done with classes by now. I wonder what's keeping them._'

Draco was wishing that his friends would come back. Pansy had promised to get him his books and a list of his homework assignments. It would be good to have his books and to focus on his homework. '_At least then I wouldn't be so acutely aware of Potter's presence_,' he thought. They were sitting just a few inches away from each other. They had tried to get a bit further apart, but the bond very clearly had other ideas.

They were pulled out of their thoughts by the arrival of visitors. Narcissa Malfoy and Molly Weasley walked into the infirmary chatting amiably. It was a strange sight. But the war and its aftermath had changed many things. Molly and Narcissa had never had anything against each other personally and they had each done the other a big favour during the war for which they would forever be grateful.

Molly felt herself indebted to Narcissa for saving Harry's life. He was as much her son as any of the others and she had no idea what she would've done if she'd lost him too. Narcissa, in turn, was very grateful to Molly for ridding her of her crazy sister. Bellatrix had lived with her in Malfoy manor for a year and she had made her life miserable...always threatening Lucius and toying with Draco and making Narcissa comply with every insane demand.

They came in together and Molly stopped for a moment to talk to Madam Pomfrey while Narcissa greeted her son with a hug. It was an uncharacteristic display of tenderness from her and, stressed as Draco was at that moment, it brought tears to his eyes.

"Are you okay, Dragon?" she asked.

"I'm fine," Draco mumbled and Harry was surprised the amount of pain and confusion that he felt from Draco just then. It made him realise that Draco was as upset about this situation as he was.

"And you, Harry?" Narcissa said.

"I'm fine, Mrs Malfoy," Harry said.

"Please call me Narcissa. After all, we are family now."

Harry nodded his acknowledgement.

Molly was done talking to Madam Pomfrey and she came over to talk to Harry. "How are you, Harry, dear?" she said, as she pulled him into a hug.

"I'm fine," he said in a way that made it obvious that he was definitely not fine.

The two women looked at each other for a moment and then they nodded, as if they'd just made a decision of some kind.

"Harry, Draco," Narcissa said. "Mrs Weasley and I have been talking and we think that there are some things that you need to understand about your situation. I know that it is quite a shock to find yourself bonded to someone against your will and your natural response would be to fight it. But you can't."

"A bond is powerful magic. It is not something to trifle with. Nor is it something that can or should be resisted. You didn't choose to be bonded, so this whole thing may seem arbitrary and ridiculous to you, but you have to understand that a bond is never arbitrary. It can only form between people who are personally and magically compatible."

Harry snorted and Draco rolled his eyes.

"It's true," Molly said. "Even in a regular bonding ritual, a bond will not take, unless the two people in question are compatible. So there is nothing random about what has happened here."

"Are you saying that we're supposed to be together?" Harry asked. He sounded every bit as incredulous as Draco looked.

"Not that exactly," Molly said. "But we are trying to say that it may not be as difficult for you two to get along and live together as you think it is."

"You don't have the best history, I know," Narcissa said.

"That's putting it mildly, Mum," Draco said.

"Maybe, but you were kids then. Are you telling me that after all that had has happened in the war and after, you haven't grown up even a little bit?" Narcissa said.

Harry and Draco looked a bit abashed, but they still felt mutinous.

"What do you really know about each other?" Molly said. "Nothing much, I wager."

"So maybe, you could put your past behind you and make a genuine attempt to get to know each other. Do you think you could do that?" Narcissa said.

Neither of the boys had anything to say to that. Could they try to get along? '_Why not?_' Harry thought. '_We are adults now. And we have managed to be in the same room for hours without insulting each other or getting into a fight._'

'_Can I make an attempt to get know Potter? It is a strange thought, but why not? After all, I did want to be his friend once._'

"Perhaps," Harry said.

"We could try, I suppose," Draco said.

Professor McGonagall walked in a couple of minutes after that. "Well, gentlemen, Molly, Narcissa, I'm sure you are aware that there are some practical matters that we need to discuss. Since you obviously cannot go back to your dorms, we've prepared a set of rooms for you to live in. You can still go to your common rooms when you wish but you'll have to go together, so I'll leave that up to you two to figure out."

"As for meals, you can take them in your rooms, if you wish. I have deputed a house-elf to take care of you. You can also choose to eat with your friends in the Great Hall, so long as you sit at the same table. Again, I'll leave that up to you to work out. You will also have to attend all of your classes together. Professor Slughorn and I have prepared a tentative schedule," she said as she handed them a parchment each.

"There aren't any major changes because you are taking all of the same subjects except for Ancient Runes and Astronomy. Mr Potter, you will join Mr Malfoy in his Ancient Runes class and, Mr Malfoy, you will join Mr Potter in Astronomy. You will, of course, have to help each other out with these subjects. Your class schedules have also been altered but we have tried to be as fair to the both of you as possible. Go through it and let me know if you want any changes." Neither Harry nor Draco had any objection to make, so that was settled.

"Good, let us go to your rooms, then. All of your things have already been moved there. In case you are wondering about your friends, I've requested that they leave you to yourselves for this evening. You will be going back to your classes tomorrow so I suggest that you use the time alone to get a little more comfortable with each other," she said, before leading the way out of the infirmary to the fourth floor. There was a set of rooms off the corridor on the right that Harry had never seen before.

There was a portrait of a young girl guarding the entrance. Professor McGonagall gave the password and led them in. There were two big rooms. The first was a living room. It was large and airy and done up entirely in sea green. It had a fireplace, a couch and a set of very comfortable looking armchairs. There was also a large writing table and a bookshelf.

The door on the left of the living room led to a bedroom which had one large bed in the middle of it. '_Only one bed_.' Draco and Harry stared uncomfortably at it. "Oh! Grow up!" McGonagall said as Molly and Narcissa exchanged amused glances. "It's not like you can get far enough away from each other to sleep on separate beds."

'_True,_' Harry thought. '_But it is still embarrassing_.'

"You might as well accept it, boys," Molly said. "You are a bonded couple, after all."

'_True,_' Draco thought. '_But that doesn't make it easier to deal with._'

"I will arrange for a house-elf to bring you dinner. And now, I should be going," Professor McGonagall said. She turned to the two boys and looked at them intently. "Please don't do anything foolish, gentlemen, or I will be forced to confine you to your rooms," she said and then she left.

Harry and Draco looked at each other for a moment. They'd said that they would try to get to know each other, but it was all very strange. Neither of them knew how to behave around the other. They were wondering what to do when they noticed that Molly and Narcissa had disappeared. They found them in the bedroom. They were standing by the window and talking softly.

"What do you think that's about?" Harry said.

"No idea. But if the look on my mother's face is anything to go by, it's not something that we're going to like."

The two of them went back to the living room. They found their school bags and started going through their books. Both Hermione and Pansy had included notes for the classes that they had missed as well a list of homework assignments. They had just set out their books and got to work when the two ladies emerged.

They seemed to have come to a decision of some kind. They called the boys over and made them sit on the couch while they settled into the armchairs.

"Tell me, dears, has the need for proximity increased since you bonded?" Molly asked.

"Yes," Draco answered cautiously.

"Just as I thought," Narcissa said.

"Do you know why that has happened?"

Both the boys shook their heads.

"The bond forces you to be physically close in an attempt to build emotional closeness," Molly said. "The idea is that if you are forced to spend a lot of time together, you will get to know each other and, hopefully, grow to like each other."

"The bond will require consummation," Narcissa said softly and both Draco and Harry paled at the sound of that last word. "We're not asking or expecting you to do anything but, if you don't start talking and getting to know each other, the proximity requirement will only increase until the point that you will need to be touching each other all the time. You're embarrassed now? Think about how difficult that will be."

"You said that you'd try to be friends," Molly said. "I must tell you that you're doing a great job of getting along peacefully without fighting and arguing but that isn't enough. Being friends means more than that. It means actively seeking each other out, wanting to talk to each other, sharing things that you're thinking about. Madam Pomfrey told me that you barely said a word to each other before we got here and even now you don't look at each other or make an attempt to talk unless it is absolutely necessary. That simply will not do."

"A magical bond, even one that has been forged by accident is not something to be trifled with," Narcissa added. "People have been known to go insane because they had rejected a bond. So, do you understand our concern here?"

"Yes," Harry answered as Draco nodded his agreement. He could feel Harry trepidation as well as his own. '_What the hell have we got ourselves into? Why? Damn it! Why?!_'

"We know that it is going to be difficult for you so we have a few suggestions to make," Molly said as she handed them a roll of parchment. "We've come up with a set of topics that you could talk about and a set of things that you can do together; activities, if you will, that will help you get to know each other better."

"Go through that list and pick at least two things to talk about and one thing to do every day," Narcissa ordered. "A lot of it may seem frivolous but trust me when I tell you that we've put some thought into it. Harry, Draco, please take this bond seriously. I will not have either of you risking your sanity because you were too stubborn to get beyond your past."

Harry and Draco said that they understood. They said that they would try to be friends, that they would take that list seriously and not risk insanity in any way at all. It took a lot of talking before they were able to convince the two mothers that they had really, truly understood the importance of the situation and that they would behave like adults...really, truly.

Molly and Narcissa were about to leave when a house-elf arrived with dinner for the two boys.

"Now, eat properly." (Molly)

"Don't forget to take your potions." (Narcissa)

"Ignore your home work for tonight, your professors will understand." (Molly)

"Pick at least one topic on that list and talk about it instead." (Narcissa)

"Get a good night's sleep." (Molly)

"We'll come back to see you in a couple of days." (Narcissa)

"Take care of yourselves." (Molly)

"And each other." (Narcissa)

"Let us know if you need anything." (Molly and Narcissa)

Finally, they left and Harry and Draco settled down to dinner. They ate in silence. Harry wanted to talk, he really did. He understood everything that Molly and Narcissa had said but he couldn't think of one thing to say. Draco was in the same predicament. How do you talk when you don't know what on Earth to talk about? '_Maybe it is good thing that they gave us that list. We'll spend all our time together in this ridiculous silence otherwise._'

They finished dinner and decided to go through the list. It was quite long and detailed. It included things like:

-Address each other by your first names at all times. No more Potter and Malfoy.

-Talk to each other about your childhood.

-Get to know each other's likes and dislikes.

-Talk to each other about your friends.

-Talk about the war and your role in it. This will be difficult, but it is very necessary.

-Share your dreams and your plans for the future.

-Tell each other something deeply personal that no one else knows about you.

-Go for a walk in the moonlight.

-Study together.

-Hold hands when you're alone.

-Hug each other every now and then. Physical closeness of this kind will make the need for proximity wear off a little bit.

There was a lot more but they stopped at this point and looked at each other. "They really expect us to do all this?" Harry asked.

"We're not getting anywhere on our own, are we? I think we should try."

"Hmmm...They will know if we don't and we don't want to risk that," Harry said.

"True. Where do we start?"

"Our names, I think...Draco." It felt strange to use that name.

"Harry..." '_Never thought I'd find myself saying that._'

"Well, that was easy. So, Draco, do you want to share something deeply personal or do you want to talk about your childhood?" Harry asked while looking through the list.

"Well, Harry, I don't feel up to talking about my childhood right now and it is probably too early for us to be sharing anything personal, so how about we compromise and tell each other a secret about ourselves that no one else knows. It doesn't have to be something personal. You go first."

Harry thought about it for a minute. There was a lot about him that no one knew. What about himself would he be comfortable sharing with Malfoy?

"Okay. I think I have something," Harry said. "I was almost sorted into Slytherin."

"What?! What do you mean you were 'almost' sorted?"

"Well, the Sorting Hat said that I would do well in Slytherin and that Slytherin house would help me on the way to greatness. But I didn't want to be in Slytherin, so I asked the hat to put me somewhere else and it chose Gryffindor."

"But Slytherin was its first choice for you."

"Yeah."

"I've never heard of the Sorting Hat changing its mind like that but it seems that you're capable of just about anything. Harry Potter, the boy who can do everything," Draco said with a smirk.

It was a smirk that had irritated Harry for years but it didn't bother him now. There was no malice behind it. Just a bit of banter that he found he rather liked, so he smiled and it was Draco's turn to be surprised. He'd seen Harry smile lots of times but it had never been directed at him. '_I like the way his face lights up when he smiles like that_,' he thought.

"But why didn't you want to be in Slytherin?"

"Because you had already been sorted there," Harry said, a bit sheepishly.

Draco was completely taken aback. "You must have hated me. I know I was a real prat but, honestly, Harry, was I that bad?"

"No, it's just that you reminded me rather strongly of my cousin, Dudley, and he was a real bully. And you made fun of Hagrid and Ron, when these two were the first friends I'd ever made."

"Your cousin used to bully you? And you didn't have friends before you came to Hogwarts? How is that even possible? You're Harry Potter. You're the legend that we all grew up hearing about." Draco sounded incredulous.

"All true, I'm afraid, but that is a story for another day. You weren't the only reason that I didn't want to be in Slytherin, though. I knew that Voldermort was a Slytherin and I'd been told that all dark wizards came from Slytherin."

"What? I'll bet it was Weasley who told you that," Draco said. Harry nodded.

"I hope you know, at least now, that that is not true. Dark wizards can come from any house."

"I know that now but I was just a kid then and I didn't know any better. Not that I have any regrets, mind you. I'm glad the hat put me in Gryffindor."

"Of course. So, this is something about you that no one knows?"

"Not even Ron and Hermione know. There was never any reason to hide it from them but I didn't have any reason to tell them either, so..."

Draco found himself feeling oddly pleased that he knew something about Harry that even Weasley and Granger didn't know.

"Well, it's your turn," Harry said, as he leaned back on the couch wondering what Draco would tell him.

Draco looked embarrassed but it seemed like he was willing himself to do this. "You have to promise that you will keep this to yourself," he said.

"Of course."

"It is nothing as dramatic or interesting as the little story you told me, but it is something that I have never wanted to admit... I'm afraid of snakes."

Harry was astonished. "Draco Malfoy, the prince of Slytherin, is afraid of snakes? But why?" He really wanted to know.

"I don't know. There is no real reason that I can think of but I've always been afraid of them, and spending nearly a year with Nagini crawling around the Manor just sealed it, I think."

"I can understand that. I like snakes in general but Nagini was a truly awful creature and you actually had to watch her eat Professor Burbage. That had to be a horrible experience."

Draco was looking astonished. "How do you know about that?"

"Ugh...that is a long story."

"Tell me," Draco said. It was obvious that he really wanted to hear it.

"I had this mind link with Voldermort for almost three years. I could see into his head, see where he was, what he was doing, feel his emotions, particularly when he was angry. So, yeah, I saw that entire episode through his eyes. I saw you at that table among all those Death Eaters who were laughing when she died. That look of fear and sick horror on your face stayed with me for a long time. It was one of the many things that convinced me that you were a Death Eater only in name. You really weren't one of them."

Draco looked stunned. "I never knew...it must have been horrible for you to have that monster in your head."

"About as having him your house, I guess."

"Ugh...even the memory of it makes me sick. I hope you know how grateful I am that you got rid of that bastard."

"I was just doing my job, Mal—Draco."

"That's the party line, I know, but it won't work on me, Potter. I know what it cost, all the effort and the pain and the sacrifice..."

They looked at each other for a long moment. They saw the sadness in each other's eyes as they were reminded again of all the pain and the horror that they had lived through. The war was over but it had only been a few months since then and the wounds were still fresh. They sat in silence for a while after that, each of them lost in the memories of a war that had tested them, broken them and left them irrevocably changed.

Neither of them realised until later how easy it had been to talk to each other once they'd got started. They were getting ready to go to bed when they noticed that they were actually able to get a few feet away from each other without any discomfort. So, Molly and Narcissa had been right after all. That was the last thought in their minds as they fell asleep. They lay as far from each other as they could get on that double bed and woke up the next morning wrapped securely in each other's arms.

Harry had never slept as well as he did that night. It was the first night in years that he had been able to sleep undisturbed by nightmares. He came awake slowly, feeling warm and lazy and thinking vaguely that he'd never felt this comfortable in his life. He opened his eyes and stared in confusion for a moment before he realised that he was staring at a head covered with silky, platinum blond hair which felt every bit as soft as it looked.

Harry was lying on his back while Draco lay on his side with his head pillowed on Harry's chest. Harry had his arms around Draco and he was holding him close while Draco had one hand on Harry's shoulder and the other splayed across his chest. Harry was too stunned to know what to do.

He absolutely did not want Draco to wake up and find them like this. He tried to ease away slowly, but Draco stirred as he was disturbed by the movement. He opened his eyes and blinked in confusion, feeling a bit irritated at being woken up. He'd been so happily asleep and that was something that hadn't happened to him since the start of the sixth year.

It took him a moment to remember where he was and why and then he noticed Harry's none too subtle attempts to get away from him and he felt his cheeks flaming as he pulled away quickly. He noticed that Harry was every bit as embarrassed as he was. They got off the bed and stood on either side of it, staring at the floor and not knowing what to say...

"Can we...uh...pretend that didn't happen?" Harry said after a minute.

"Yes, of course..." Draco said. "I'll just...uh," he said vaguely as he made his way into the bathroom and shut the door, feeling very thankful that he was able to put a few feet of distance between them, just then.

They showered and changed and then they got ready for the day without once looking at each other or saying anything. Then Harry called the house-elf and ordered breakfast. They had somehow agreed in all that silence that they were not ready to face the school yet. It was obvious that they would be taking most of their meals in their rooms for a while. They ate breakfast in silence as well.

'_This is ridiculous,_' Draco thought after a while_._'_We can't just clam up every time that something uncomfortable happens._'

'_This is so stupid,_Harry thought as the silence began to get on his nerves._Why the hell can't we deal with this like adults?_'

"I think..." Draco began.

"Let's just..." Harry said.

Then they stopped and stared for a moment. "You go first," Harry said.

"I think we're being ridiculous," Draco said.

"And juvenile," Harry added.

"Exactly. We should just forget about it. It's the bond."

"Yeah...there's really nothing we can do about it so I think we should get over ourselves."

"Good. Shall we go then?"

"Yeah," Harry said and then he glanced at his watch. "And we'd better hurry. We only have about fifteen minutes to get to Charms."

Draco nodded. They packed their bags and made their way out of the door. They were almost at the end of the corridor when Draco grabbed Harry by the arm and stopped him.

"What are we going to tell everyone?" He said.

"I don't know...I don't want to tell anyone about the bond yet."

"Me neither. But how are we going to explain all the changes in our schedule? I'm sure all of your housemates will want to know what I am doing in your Charms class and why you are not going to be in Transfiguration with them next class and so on."

"Damn! I hadn't thought of that. Why don't we just evade all questions for today and let them speculate. They'll find out soon enough, but I don't want to be the one who tells them."

"Hmmm...Okay."

They made it to class just moments before Professor Flitwick got there, which was a good thing because no one got a chance to ask them any questions. They sat at the back of the class, where not many people could look at them, but they got looked at a lot anyway. It was not as if it was normal to see Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy sitting together voluntarily and looking as if they did it every day. Besides, what was Malfoy doing in a class that was meant for Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs?

Ron and Hermione were the only ones who knew what was going on. Most of the class figured this out when they seemed unperturbed by the sight of their best friend choosing to sit with Malfoy instead of them, so they started asking them what was going on. Neither Ron nor Hermione was willing to say anything, so they avoided the questions as well as they could, feeling relieved when Professor Flitwick started his lecture and forced everyone to keep quiet. Professor Flitwick had, of course, been informed of the situation, so he didn't ask any questions and this puzzled the students even more.

They went from Charms to Transfiguration where the Slytherins and the Ravenclaws did their own bit of speculating. By lunch time, the school was buzzing and, while Harry and Draco were able to disappear into their rooms, their friends were finding it impossible to escape the questions any longer. Hermione had a quick word with Pansy and they decided to just tell everyone and be done with it.

...

When Harry and Draco went back for their classes in the afternoon, everyone knew about their bond. There was staring and whispering and the inevitable speculation that it was all a plot by Draco to ensnare Harry. There was talk of all sorts of dark magic that he could have used to bond Harry to himself. Draco had expected all this and more, but that didn't make it any less upsetting. Harry felt his distress and it bothered him.

He may not like Draco all that much, and he certainly wasn't thrilled to find himself bonded to him, but that didn't mean that it was okay for everyone to just assume that this situation was somehow Draco's fault. And he hated the way every one kept referring to Draco as a Death Eater. He knew better than anyone that Draco had been a Death Eater, but he wasn't one now. Why couldn't people just let it go?

They had all been through a war and the purpose had not just been to defeat Voldermort, but to put an end to the prejudice and bigotry that he had tried to propagate. The war was over and done, but the bigotry was intact, only it was now being practiced in reverse. That may seem like payback to some people, but it didn't make any sense to Harry. As far as he was concerned, prejudice was wrong no matter who it was directed against.

He found himself feeling oddly protective of Draco. It surprised him and he hoped that Draco wouldn't pick up on it. But he did. He could sense most of Harry's feelings. He was surprised as much by the fact that Harry felt protective of him as he was by his own reaction to that. He was grateful, that despite all their history, Harry wanted to defend him against unfairness. It made him acknowledge once again that Harry really was an extraordinary person. The first time he'd thought that had been when he'd seen Harry coming back into the fiendfyre to rescue him. Harry blinked in surprise when he felt a strong feeling of gratitude from Draco.

"What?" he said.

"Nothing..." Draco said as he looked away uncomfortably. Harry decided not to press the point.

"Okay, let's go," Harry said. "We can't be late getting to Potions."

Somehow, they got through the rest of their classes. Neither of them was able to concentrate on anything. It was extremely distracting to be stared at all the time. Harry was stopped several times between classes by people who wanted to inquire about his welfare. All of them expressed their dismay at hearing that Harry was bonded to Draco. Harry dealt with all of them as politely as he could, but he could feel his temper rising as the day went on.

Draco was angry too, but he had no desire to get into an altercation with anyone, and hurt as he was by all the insinuations and the accusations, he couldn't argue with anyone who called him a Death Eater because that was true. He had been a Death Eater. It was a choice that he regretted, but he knew better than to expect anyone to see that.

He was honestly ashamed of the person that he used to be and he was trying to change. And, for some reason, he wanted Harry to know that he had changed. Maybe it was because Harry had saved his life and he wanted to show him that he hadn't wasted all that effort on someone who didn't deserve it. So, he chose to keep his peace instead of lashing out, despite all the nasty things that everyone insisted on saying about him.

The final straw came after the last class of the day. They had stepped out of the classroom and they were making their way down the corridor when they were accosted by Ginny.

"Harry! I heard about the bond. How are you holding up? It must be so difficult!" She spoke as if Draco wasn't even there. It stung but he kept his cool.

"It's not easy, but we're fine." Draco noticed the deliberate use of "we" and he found himself unreasonably pleased by it.

"Oh! I mean...good. So what are they doing about it?"

"What do you mean?"

"Professor McGonagall and the rest of the teachers, aren't they trying to find a way to break the bond?"

It was a perfectly valid question, given the circumstances, but something in Ginny's manner irritated Harry. She had been hoping to get back together with him after the war, but he hadn't been interested and he'd told her so. She had seemed quite accepting of it, even going so far as to tell him that she understood. But ever since school had started she'd tried everything possible to get close to him. She kept saying that she only wanted to be his friend, but Harry had begun to realise that she wanted a lot more. He'd tried to keep his distance but it seemed that she didn't want to take the hint.

"They're trying to find out more about the bond and Professor McGonagall said it might take some time," Harry replied as blandly as possible.

"Oh, you poor thing!" she said as she moved a bit closer and laid a hand on his arm, squeezing lightly. Harry barely kept himself from flinching. She'd been doing a lot of touching lately. It was seemingly very innocent but it made him uncomfortable. He drew his arm away. She let go but then she moved right into his personal space and said, "It must be so hard to have to deal with Malfoy all the time." Harry wished there was some polite way to tell her to back off when she laid a hand on his face.

Draco saw red the moment Ginny touched Harry. He didn't care about her insulting words but he simply could not bear to see her touch Harry so familiarly; particularly when it was obvious that he was uncomfortable with the whole thing. It was not like he had any claim to the man but she didn't either and whether they had wanted it or not, they were bonded and technically at least, Harry belonged to him and he was not going to stand by and let her flirt with him.

"Let's go, Harry," he said in a tone that made it clear that it was not a request.

"Don't you dare talk to Harry like that, Malfoy! He's not one of your minions," Ginny spat.

"No, but he is my bonded and I'm not going to stand here and watch you paw at him and make him uncomfortable. Let's go, Harry," he said again and, this time, he grabbed Harry by his hand and led him away. Now it was Harry's turn to see Draco being protective of him. It surprised him a bit but he found that liked it. After all, he'd never had anyone look out for him like that before.

"Thanks," Harry said as they went down the corridor and up the stairs.

"No problem." It was only then that Draco realised that he was still holding Harry's hand.

He let go and said, "Sorry. I guess I got a bit carried away..."

"It's okay. Holding hands is one of the tasks assigned to us."

"True. But I didn't think you'd be comfortable with it somehow."

"Funny how you insinuate that you would be fine with it and I wouldn't. Are you suggesting that you're more mature than I am?"

"I'm not suggesting it, I know it," Draco said with an air of superiority.

"Prat!" Harry said good-naturedly as they got to their rooms.

They walked in, dumped their bags on the table and flopped on the couch. They were both feeling exhausted. It had been a difficult day and they were starting to feel the effects. Harry had the beginnings of a bad headache and Draco felt his ears buzzing uncomfortably.

"I feel awful," Harry said.

"Me too..."

"It's the bond, isn't it?" Harry asked as his ears started buzzing as well.

"Yeah. It's been stressed all day," Draco said as he started rubbing his temples which had begun to throb painfully.

They were sitting just a foot away from each other. '_How much closer does the bond want us to be?'_Harry thought irritably and then he was reminded of the way they had woken up that morning and he blushed before he could stop himself. Draco turned to look at him just then and he saw the way Harry cheeks pinked. He didn't realise that he was staring until Harry said, "What?"

"I...ah...nothing," he responded, looking away.

The discomfort was getting worse. Harry realised that Draco was waiting for him to initiate contact, perhaps in an attempt to prove the point he'd been trying to make earlier. Harry saw it as a dare...there was simply no way he was going to let Draco think that he was uncomfortable with something as silly as holding hands which, if he had to be honest, he was. But Draco didn't have to know that, so he held out his hand and Draco took it.

"Trying to prove a point, are we?" he said dryly.

"Prat!" Harry said again.

"Always."

"It's not getting better, is it?" Harry said after a few minutes.

Draco shook his head.

"Maybe it is time for that hug," Harry said softly. He tried to keep the blush off his face but he couldn't.

"Hmmm...It is one of the items on that list," Draco said, echoing Harry's words from earlier. He had a smug look on his face and a challenge in his eyes. This had turned into a game of sorts and he was enjoying it immensely, even though he was not as comfortable with this whole business as he wanted Harry to think he was.

Harry rolled his eyes and then he put his arm around Draco, trying to imagine that it was Hermione, who was the only person that he ever did this sort of thing with. Draco shuffled closer and rested his head on Harry's shoulder trying, in turn, to imagine that it was Pansy. Neither of them succeeded very well. Harry was all too aware of the soft blond hair as it brushed his cheek and the spicy scent of Draco's cologne that he found that he liked rather a lot. He leaned a bit closer and, slowly, he started to relax.

Draco found himself inhaling the woodsy, earthy smell that he would soon come to think of as uniquely Harry. He found himself relaxing into the gentle grip that Harry had him in and he involuntarily closed his eyes and fell asleep. Harry stretched his legs out and rested his head on the back of the couch wondering at how warm and comfortable he felt. The exhaustion of the day soon caught up with him and he fell asleep as well.

...

It was a couple of hours later. They were still cuddled against each other and blissfully asleep when they were disturbed by the sound of knocking. They pulled away from each other, feeling drowsy and bleary eyed. They tried to treat the shared nap as no big deal, but both of them coloured visibly when they realised how comfortable they'd been together. Harry stumbled to the door and opened it. It was Ron and Hermione. They took in his tousled hair and his bleary eyes and the light blush on his cheeks and looked at each other, wondering what was going on.

"What have you been up to, mate?" Ron asked.

"I was...asleep," Harry responded, rubbing his eyes and willing himself awake. He stepped aside to let them in. Draco was sitting on the couch trying to smooth his hair down.

"You were sleeping on the couch?" Hermione said.

"Yes..."

"Together?" Ron said, clearly unable to hide his surprise. He would have said more if Hermione hadn't elbowed him.

"Um...yeah. Would you guys like some tea?" Harry said, trying to change the subject.

"Sure, and some cake, too, if you can manage that," Ron said as he took the chair opposite the couch and looked suspiciously at Draco. '_Why was Harry sleeping on the couch with Malfoy?_' He wondered. '_Is it the bond? I get the proximity thing, but can it actually make them want to um...sleep together? Eewww,_' he thought in response to the image that came to mind.

"Hello, Weasley," Draco said.

Ron nodded. He didn't like Draco and he probably never would. He hoped devoutly that they would find some way to break this ridiculous bond, but he cared enough about Harry not to make things unnecessarily difficult for him.

Harry called the house-elf and made his request while Hermione settled into a chair and started a conversation with Draco.

"So how are you guys?" she asked.

"We're fine..."

"You don't look it."

"Well, today's been difficult. I've been called all sorts of names and accused of several crimes and, while this is hardly the first time, it really isn't the sort of thing you ever get used to..." Draco said calmly but his distress was obvious.

"I'm sorry we told everyone…it was just getting very difficult to keep it quiet."

"I know and it's okay. They would've found out soon enough."

"So, you're getting along?" she asked hesitantly, probably thinking about the fact they had been napping together.

"Yeah...Though I have to admit that it is all a bit surreal," Draco said.

"It's not easy," Harry said as he joined the conversation. "In fact, sometimes it is downright weird, but we're trying."

Ron didn't know how to react to any of this. He was glad that Harry and Draco weren't fighting all the time. That would've been horrible for Harry and he didn't deserve that. And yet, the thought of Harry and Draco getting along just didn't sit right with him.

Hermione was relieved, though. She'd been afraid that Harry and Draco would be at each other's throats all the time. She'd been reading everything she could find about bonds since the previous afternoon, and she'd learned, in great detail, of all of the horrible things that could happen to people who fought against a bond that was holding them together. She wasn't particularly fond of Draco either, but she'd noticed that he'd changed and she was more than willing to get along with him for Harry's sake.

The house-elf arrived with a pot of tea, some fruit cake and a few scones. Pansy and Blaise joined them halfway through tea and they all sat together and talked for a while. It was a very unusual gathering. Just two days ago they were two separate groups of people who had nothing to say to each other. Even now they didn't have much to talk about, but they tried to make conversation, to make things comfortable for their two friends. Pansy and Hermione in particular, were determined to make things easy for Draco and Harry so they looked for things they might have in common and once they started on the gossip, they found that they had plenty to talk about.

Blaise and Ron were a bit stiff and reserved at first but they soon discovered that they were both huge fans of Quidditch, though they supported different teams. They talked easily enough after that. The two groups separated after a while. The shared nap had settled the bond so Harry and Draco could get away from each other for a bit, even if it was only into opposite corners of the same room. They settled into their corners with their friends and they spent a couple of hours talking and laughing as they did their homework. It was a bit of normalcy that they had sorely missed and it felt very good. It made them feel a little less trapped in a situation that was totally beyond their control.

...

It was a few hours later. Harry and Draco had finished their dinner and their homework. All that was left was the list that Molly and Narcissa had left for them. Harry read through the list and passed it to Draco. "Anything there that you want to talk about?" he asked.

"No...But a walk sounds nice."

"Right. It'll be good to get out of here for a while. Let's go."

They made their way out of their rooms and down the corridors and the stairs and soon they were in the entrance hall. They walked out of the big front doors and made for the lake. They walked mostly in silence. It was still early October but there was a nip in the air, which was refreshing, and the grounds looked rather beautiful in the moonlight.

"Can I ask you something?" Draco said after a while.

"Sure."

"How come you and the Wea—I mean, Ginevra, aren't together? You were quite a popular couple here back in sixth year."

"We were, but we broke up just before the end of that year...I was going to go off to try and find all the Horcruxes and hopefully kill Voldemort and I didn't want to drag her into all of that. I guess she thought that we'd get back together once the war was over. I did too, at the time, but once it was all over and done I realised that I didn't want to be with her anymore..."

"Why?"

"I'm still fond of her and all that, but that year in hiding, all the fighting and the running...it changed me. I found that I couldn't connect with her anymore, so I told her and we broke up."

"She didn't take it very well, huh?"

"She took it well, alright. She told me that she understood and that it was okay and all that. I was relieved, frankly, but now I realise that she didn't mean any of that. I think she's still hoping that I will come to my senses one of these days and go back to her..."

"She's going about it entirely wrong, if that's what she wants."

"What do you mean?"

"If this afternoon was anything to go by, I'd say she's been throwing herself at you. Am I right?"

"A bit...yeah."

"That will drive any guy away. No one likes having things forced on them. And she's being rather undignified, really, and that is not attractive."

There was a part of Harry that bristled at hearing Draco talk about Ginny that way but he couldn't deny the truth of his words. Harry had told himself time and again that he had to be patient with Ginny because she was Ron's sister and he didn't want to hurt her and all that, but she really was getting on his nerves.

"Hmmm...I just hope she'll realise it soon," he said.

They walked in silence for a while after that. Then they got to the lake and sat down staring at the water as it shimmered in the moonlight.

"What about you then?" Harry said after a while. "I thought—the whole school thought—that you and Parkinson were together. What happened?"

"We were never together. We were just pretending. Our fathers decided, while we were still very young, that we would eventually be married to each other. Neither of us liked the idea but we had no choice but to go along with it. So, we dated for a while, hoping that it would work out. But it didn't. I only ever saw her as a sister. And now that both our fathers are locked up, we don't have to keep up the pretence anymore."

Harry sensed a bit of resentment in the way Draco spoke about his father but he decided that this wouldn't be a good time to bring it up. He decided to ask about something else instead.

"How can your parents force you to marry someone you don't want to? That's terrible."

"Perhaps, but that's how things work in pureblood families. Marriages are about politics and business. They're meant to forge alliances with the best families. Love has nothing to do with it."

"You sound as if you actually believe that."

"I don't. I'm just telling you how things are done."

"So, is your profession chosen for you as well?"

"Usually, yes," Draco said. "My father raised me to be a politician and a businessman just like him."

"Is that what you're going to do when you finish school?"

"Of course not! I hate politics and I don't think I can even pretend to understand business," Draco said and Harry was surprised by his honesty. The Draco that he had known would never admit so freely to not being able to do something.

"So what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to be a Potions master. It is something that I've always wanted to do."

"Hmmm..."

"What about you? Are you going to fulfil everybody's expectations and become an Auror?"

"No. I don't think so."

"Why?"

"I've had enough of fighting dark wizards to last me a few lifetimes. After all that I've been through in the last few years, there is no way I want to keep on doing it."

'_And I always thought he just had to be the hero all the time,_' Draco thought.

"So what do you want to do?" Draco asked.

"I don't know if I'll be any good at it, but I think I want to teach..."

"That was pretty much the last thing that I was expecting to hear. I had no idea that you were academically inclined."

"It's hard to be, when someone is trying to kill you all the time."

"But what made you think of teaching?"

"I spent a lot of time over the summer thinking about what I want to do and I realised that one of my favourite experiences was running the DA back in fifth year. It was honestly, the most fulfilling thing that I've ever done. So yeah, I'm thinking about it..."

"You'll do a better job than Professor Edwards at any rate. That guy is an imbecile."

"So, you're assuming that if I teach at all, it will be Defence..."

"Bit obvious, that," Draco said with a smirk.

"I guess it is."

They sat there a little longer and then they headed back into their rooms and got into bed. They fell asleep almost immediately. They woke up to find news of their bond splashed all over the front page of the _Prophet_. _Witch Weekly_ actually brought out a special midweek edition dedicated to this story. Both publications went to town with the Saviour bonded to Death Eater theme. Harry was disgusted and Draco was upset but they both pretended not to care.

They talked things over and decided that they would ignore the newspapers and magazines and their ramblings in much the same way that they had been ignoring all the attention from the other students at school...They got a lot of mail over the next few days, most of which they destroyed without reading. Harry got a lot of interview requests and he firmly declined all of them. He had no desire to have his personal life turned into entertainment for the masses.

**...**

A few days went by and Harry and Draco settled into a routine of sorts. They attended classes, did their homework, spent their evenings with their friends and got along surprisingly well with each other. Molly and Narcissa came to see them again and they were quite pleased with the progress that the boys had made. So Harry and Draco got on with their lives, feeling rather grateful that the bond seemed to be settling down.

The only problem was that they seemed to feel tired a lot of the time. They would wake up every morning feeling pretty good, but things would get steadily worse as the day went on. They would go back to their rooms after classes every day and fall into bed and go to sleep almost immediately. They usually felt fine after a nap, but a few hours later they were tired again. They hadn't said anything to Madam Pomfrey because it had only been a few days since the problem had started and they were hoping that it would just go away.

It was Tuesday afternoon, six days since they had bonded, and Draco and Harry were in Potions class. It was the last class of the day and all they wanted was to get through it and go back to their rooms. It had been a long day and they were feeling really stressed and tired.

The bond had created a strong emotional connection between them, so each of them could feel almost everything that the other was feeling. When they were both stressed and tired, as they were now, the emotions tended to bounce back and forth between them, making them feel even worse. So when Professor Slughorn started his lecture all Harry wanted was to close his eyes and go to sleep. Draco felt even worse.

But now that he had an academic career in mind, Harry needed to do well in all of his classes, and, since he no longer had the Half-Blood Prince to help him, he really had to concentrate to do well in Potions. So he put his exhaustion aside and took careful notes as he listened to everything that Professor Slughorn had to say. Draco dozed through the first half of the class. It helped that Professor Slughorn was rather shortsighted and he did not see him.

Harry shook him awake when it was time to make the potion. Draco woke up, feeling a bit better. They set up their cauldrons and got to work. Draco noticed how meticulous Harry was being as he prepared the ingredients and the number of times he read through the instructions and looked through his notes as he worked on his potion. It was the first time that he had seen Harry so focussed and trying so obviously hard to do well.

Then he thought back to sixth year when Harry had, surprisingly, been the best in every Potions class... He had made it look effortless. Draco had had too much on his mind to wonder about it then but he was wondering now. '_I'm sure there's a story there_,' he thought, as he noticed Harry pick up the dragon scales. He grabbed him by the wrist and stopped him before he could drop them into his cauldron.

"What?" Harry asked.

"Don't drop them in all at once! You have to add them one by one and you have to stir twice after you put in each of the scales."

"Oh!" Harry exclaimed. "But it doesn't say anything like that in the instructions."

"That is the way dragon scales have to be added whenever they are put into a potion that also has bats' wings in it. It's a standard instruction. We learned it back in second year, that's why it's not in the text book," Draco explained.

"Oh!" Harry said. He looked exasperated with himself. "Thanks," he added.

"No big deal."

"Harry?" Draco said after a while.

"Hmmm..."

"You've always had a bit of trouble with Potions, haven't you?"

"That's putting it mildly."

"So how come you were so good back in sixth year?"

"I had help...from Snape."

"What?!"

"Not that he knew, mind you. I got hold of his old textbook. He'd filled it with notes and suggestions and I found that all I had to do was follow them and I would end up with a perfect potion every time."

"But how did you get hold of his old text book?"

"I got an E in my Potions OWL and I assumed that I wouldn't be accepted in the NEWT class so I didn't buy a textbook or any of the equipment. And neither did Ron. Then McGonagall told us that Professor Slughorn would accept us into his class even with an E. We joined the class and he told us to use a couple of the old textbooks in the cupboard until we could order some new ones. The one that I picked up happened to be Snape's. Though I didn't know it at the time. The writing on the book said that it was the property of the Half-Blood Prince."

"Named after his mother—"

"As I found out later, yes."

"You were supposed to return that book when you got your own but you kept it and you didn't care that you were cheating. How very Slytherin of you, Harry. I'm proud of you," Draco said with a smirk that Harry found he was starting to like rather a lot.

They continued to work on their potions as they talked. They had discovered over the past week that they could talk about pretty much anything so long as the conversation didn't get too personal. About half an hour later, their potions were done. They handed in their work and left the class and they soon began to feel the full weight of their exhaustion and stress, now that they no longer had anything to take their minds off it.

"I need some tea," Draco mumbled.

"I need a nap," Harry said.

They had almost made their way out of the dungeons when a small blonde girl, probably a first year, came over to Harry and handed him a note."It's from Professor McGonagall," she said, before she blushed and ran away. The note was brief, just a request to meet the headmistress in her office after classes.

"Let's go," Harry said wearily.

"Damn! It is such a long trek from the dungeons to her office."

"Why are we so tired?" Harry wondered.

"I don't know but it's been like this for the last few days. Do you think we should tell Madam Pomfrey?"

"Yeah. Let's go see her after dinner."

By the time they trudged all the way up to McGonagall's office, they were both short of breath and gasping. Harry was sure that he would pass out any minute. Draco could barely keep his eyes open. It was strange and it was starting to bother them quite a bit. Professor McGonagall took one look at them and called Madam Pomfrey, who stepped into the headmistress' office five minutes later with her wand and her potions in tow.

She looked them over quickly and gave them a couple of potions to drink. They felt better immediately. When they were through, she looked at them sternly and said, "Is this the first time that you've felt tired for no reason?"

"No," they admitted sheepishly.

"I thought as much. So, how long has this been going on?"

"Four days now."

"And neither of you thought that it was necessary to tell me?"

"We didn't think it was important," Harry said.

"Of course you didn't," she muttered as got her wand out and ran some spells over them. She looked really concerned when she was done.

"What is it?" Harry asked.

"I think I have an idea but I'll have to ask you a few questions first," she said. "How do you feel when you get up in the morning?"

"We feel fine."

"When does the tiredness start?"

"Somewhere about midmorning and then it gets steadily worse."

"Okay. Do you feel this bad at the end of every school day?"

"Almost," Harry said.

"Hmmm... What do you do after your classes?"

"We're usually very sleepy by the end of the last class, so we go back to our rooms and take a nap."

"And then?"

"We do our homework and then our friends come over after dinner and we spend a few hours talking and studying..."

Madam Pomfrey looked thoughtful as she glanced at Professor McGonagall. Then she said that she needed to talk to her alone and left the room with the head mistress. They came back a few minutes later and settled down to talk to the boys as a house-elf appeared with tea, cake and biscuits.

"I suggest that you eat, gentleman. You need all the energy you can get. Madam Pomfrey tells me that you are both rather weak at the moment," Professor McGonagall said.

The potions had made both Harry and Draco feel a bit better and now they were hungry so they dug in as they listened to Madam Pomfrey explain the problem.

"I think I know what is happening here," she said. "The bond is still very new and volatile; it gets stressed when you spend a lot of time around other people. That is why you feel so tired at the end of every school day. And, in your case, it is not just the time spent around other people; it is also the unwanted attention that you're getting from everyone."

"So what do we do?" Harry asked.

"We think that you should take some time off school," Professor McGonagall said. "Just a few days," she added when they opened their mouths to protest.

"The other problem is that you don't seem to be spending much time alone together. Either you're in school or you're with friends," Madam Pomfrey said.

"But we're together all the time," Draco said.

"If, by together, you mean in the same room, then yes. But that is not what I'm talking about. You are clearly under a mating spell, gentlemen, and, like any newly bonded couple, you need to spend several hours a day by yourselves and you will need a lot more physical contact than you are allowing."

"Not that again," Harry and Draco said.

"And that right there is the problem. Your attitude is all wrong. You say that you have accepted the bond and I will concede that you are trying to get to know each other and become friends. That is certainly helping, but you seem to resist physical contact as much as you can and that is one of the reasons that the bond is stressed. You need to initiate contact on your own and not just because the bond is pushing you to do it."

Harry and Draco looked at each other and sighed. She was right. Even Molly and Narcissa had told them to hold hands and hug each other every now and then. They'd even suggested that they give each other a massage and do other little things that would help them get comfortable with the idea of intimacy. They hadn't done any of it. The talking and trying to be friends had been easy to accept but the thought of being physically affectionate and intimate had made them both feel extremely uncomfortable, so they had pretty much ignored that part of it—except when the bond had pushed them to be physically close.

"You need a few days to be alone with each other and you need to get yourselves to a place where you can be physically affectionate with each other, at the very least," Madam Pomfrey said. "Now I want you to go back to your rooms, take a long shower and go to sleep and make sure that you are in contact as much as possible. In fact, I want you to hold hands right now."

Draco held out his hand without saying a word and Harry took it.

"There is nothing more that I can do to help you, gentlemen," Madam Pomfrey added as she gathered her things. "It is all up to you now." And then she left.

Professor McGonagall looked at them intently for a couple of minutes. "I asked the two of you to come and see me because I have something important to tell you," she said. "We've been studying your bond and we're now quite sure that it cannot be broken."

"I know you were hoping that we would find a way to break the bond and that this would all go away," she said as she noticed the disappointment on their faces. "And I'm sorry...but you have to accept the fact that you will be together for the rest of your lives. So it is all the more important that you make this work."

Harry sighed and Draco looked at the floor. "I know that this is difficult," McGonagall continued. "No one wants to be bonded against their will, but you cannot keep fighting it. You are a couple and you need to start acting like one or the bond will keep hurting you. You nearly passed out today just because you climbed a few stairs. Does that sound like a good thing to you?"

They shook their heads. "I'm going to have to tell Molly and Narcissa about this," McGonagall added.

Harry and Draco looked stricken. "I'm sorry but I cannot keep information like this from your parents and guardians. I just thought that you would appreciate the warning."

They nodded. They seemed quite unable to say anything. "I think you should go and get some rest now," Professor McGonagall said. "And I don't want to see you in your classes until next Wednesday. I will inform all the professors and your friends. You have one week, gentleman; use it well."

Harry and Draco got back to their rooms feeling very thoughtful. They had known that there was a real possibility that the bond would prove unbreakable, but it was still a bit of a blow to have it confirmed. They realised only now that they had been hoping that the bond would be broken and that they wouldn't have to deal with anything other than being friends. Harry glanced at Draco as they walked down the corridor to their rooms and wondered how he was going to deal with having Draco as a spouse.

The idea wasn't scary or uncomfortable even, the way it had been a week ago. Now that he had got to know Draco a little bit, he found that he liked him. And, as he had noticed several times in the past week, Draco was quite attractive. The pointy faced git that he had known as a kid had grown into rather a handsome man. The only problem was that Harry had always expected end up with a girl. Also, he'd assumed that he would be in love with the person that he married. And, while he liked Draco well enough, he certainly did not love him and he didn't think he could love him, even.

Draco was grappling with the same issue. He had the beginnings of a friendship with Harry. They'd had all sorts of conversations, and they'd got to know each other over the past week, but they hadn't shared anything of significance yet. While he was not about to deny that he found Harry attractive, that did not mean that he was ready to be intimate with him and he was sure that Harry wasn't ready for that either. He thought about spending the rest of his life with Harry and, while the idea wasn't painful the way it had been just a week ago, it was certainly daunting.

Though Harry and Draco were both eighteen years old, neither of them had any real experience with relationships. Harry had never had the time and Draco had never had the freedom. So to find themselves bonded and be asked to be intimate was a little too much for both of them. Act like friends, they'd been told, and, crazy as that had sounded, they had worked it out. Could they work this out too?

The potions that Madam Pomfrey had given them had helped a lot but by the time they walked into their rooms they were tired again. They took their turns in the shower and got into bed. They each lay on their own side of the bed as they always did. They were desperate to sleep but they had too much on their minds, so they tossed and turned as they began to feel more and more uncomfortable.

Then they turned and looked at each other for a long minute. They shifted until they were just inches away from each other. Draco put his arm around Harry and closed his eyes. "Not a word," he whispered

Harry shifted a little closer and then he put his arm around Draco and said, "I wouldn't dream of it." Then he too closed his eyes and they relaxed as they felt a familiar warmth surround them. Soon they were asleep and they didn't wake up until the morning of the next day.

...

It was just after breakfast the next day and Draco and Harry were at the infirmary. Madam Pomfrey had insisted that they go see her first thing in the morning. She looked them over and decided that they were doing well enough not to need any potions, so she sent them on their way. They got back to their rooms and decided to study for a while. A week off school didn't mean a week of no work. Professor McGonagall had told them that she would have their school work delivered to them every night, so they had plenty to do.

They started with Charms and went on to Defence where they were studying Patronus Charms. Draco understood the theory well enough, but he had never been able to cast a Patronus. His father had tried to teach him and had failed utterly. Harry didn't bother with the practical part of his homework because he had mastered the charm years ago. Draco pretended that he didn't have to practice either, but Harry saw right through him. Being connected emotionally meant that they could almost never lie to each other.

"Why don't you want to practice?" Harry asked.

"Because I don't need to," Draco said. He was embarrassed to admit that he couldn't do something that nearly half of his classmates seemed able to do effortlessly.

"I can teach you," Harry said calmly.

"What makes you think I need teaching?"

"Draco, I can feel all of your tension and embarrassment and I can put two and two together. I'm not stupid, you know. I'm not trying to make you look bad here. I just want to help you. After all, you've been helping me with Potions."

Draco sighed. Harry was right. There was no way they could hide from each other. He might as well accept the truth. "I've never been able to cast a Patronus," he said. "My father tried to teach me but..."

"It's okay. It is not an easy charm to learn. I know how much I struggled with it."

"Harry, you were thirteen years old. Of course you struggled. I'm an adult wizard. I should be able to do this."

"You will be able to do it. I can teach you. I taught everyone who was in the DA."

And so their lessons began. Harry showed him how to do the charm and Draco tried and tried but he failed. It was just the way it had been when his father had tried to teach him. He was starting to get really frustrated when Harry stopped him. "Look, all you need is to get it right once. Then it becomes easy to do. And you need to pick the right memory. It has to be happy and powerful. And it might help to relive that memory in your head as clearly as possible before you actually cast the charm."

So Draco closed his eyes and tried to picture as clearly as he could, a very special day from his childhood. And though he could see it, he couldn't feel the happiness that he associated with that memory.

"Well that's the problem," Harry said. "You have to be able to feel that happiness in your gut or you won't be able to cast the charm."

Draco sighed. He'd been really unhappy and depressed ever since he'd taken the Dark Mark and he still carried a heavy weight of guilt about everything that he'd done in the two years after that. It had been so long since he'd been happy that he had almost forgotten what it felt like. Harry sensed most of this, but he chose not to comment.

"What is that memory about? If you don't mind my asking," he said.

"It is about my first time flying," Draco replied.

"Hmmm...Okay then. Let's go down to the Quidditch pitch and fly. It might help you relive the memory. Besides, it's been too long since I've been on a broomstick."

"Same here," Draco said. So they put on their cloaks, grabbed their broomsticks and set out.

Their bond meant that they could not play for their house teams anymore and that had been a blow to them both. They'd both been captains of their teams and they'd been hoping to have a final shot at beating each other. But that wasn't to be. Ron and Blaise had taken over as captains and they were both working seriously hard to build their teams. They had both lost their Seekers and finding replacements and training them was no small task.

Harry and Draco were left out of all this and they missed it acutely. But the fact that they couldn't play Quidditch did not mean that they had to give up flying. They would've liked to play a Seeker's game, but the bond wouldn't let them get far enough away from each other to make that a possibility. So they chose to fly about the pitch, pulling impossible stunts and generally showing off as much as they could. They were no longer the bitter rivals that they had once been, but flying brought out all their competitiveness. It was the only area in which they had ever competed as equals.

They spent all afternoon on the pitch enjoying the sun and the breeze and giving in to that wonderful rush of joy that they had only ever found in the air. When they finally got back on the ground, they were both laughing and feeling happier than they had in a long time.

Harry thought Draco looked adorable with his hair all mussed by the wind and his eyes bright with laughter. That thought surprised him very much. But then he glanced at him again and he realised that it was the first time that he was looking at Draco in an unguarded moment, when he was just enjoying something without trying to maintain that image of dignity and seriousness that Harry had come to associate with him.

Draco felt something stir in his stomach at the sight of Harry looking flushed and breathing unsteadily. He tried to shake his head and push that thought away, but he couldn't ignore the way his stomach flipped when Harry smiled at him—it was such a happy smile. His entire face lit up and eyes were practically glowing. And then Harry said, "I think you'll be able to produce a Patronus now. Do you want to try?"

Draco nodded and he drew his wand. He closed his eyes and concentrated hard on that childhood memory and then he remembered his feeling just now when he was up in the air, chasing Harry and the way he'd felt just now when Harry had smiled at him and —_"Expecto patronum!"_ he said and to his eternal astonishment, he saw a shimmering white horse burst out of his wand and canter about the pitch before coming to stop in front of him. '_He's so beautiful_,' he thought as he reached out and touched the horse. The horse nuzzled his hand and then he looked up at Draco and disappeared.

Harry loved that look of awe and wonder on Draco's face. He remembered how he had felt when he had produced his first Patronus. He stood there smiling as Draco tried to absorb what had just happened.

"I...did that really happen?" Draco said. The disbelief in his voice was obvious.

"Yes it did. You just produced a Patronus. And a gorgeous one, I must say."

"He was, wasn't he?"

"Why a horse though?" Harry said. "I sense a story there."

"That was Lightning." Draco said. "He was my horse. He was a Shetland. Of course, he was just a pony when I first got him. I was six years old then and I had no siblings so...he was my best friend," Draco said.

Harry thought of Draco as a little boy riding a pony and he found himself smiling fondly at that image. He glanced at Draco and thought that he must have made a very cute little kid and then he smiled again. He was honestly surprised at himself. He had no idea why he was thinking all these thoughts, but he couldn't deny that being alone with Draco all day had given him a chance to see a side of him that he had never imagined and he realised that this was a Draco that he liked very much indeed.

Draco couldn't believe that Harry had so easily taught him to do something that he had struggled with for so long. He saw Harry smiling at him again and he thought that it had to be the nicest thing that he had ever seen. They went back to their rooms feeling rather happy and more inclined to accept their relationship than had been just the previous day. Neither of them noticed that they had managed to spend a whole day together without once thinking about or missing their friends.

**...**

The next couple of days went by in much the same fashion. Harry and Draco had spent all this time alone and they hadn't felt that strange tiredness even once. They realised that Madam Pomfrey had been right in her assessment of the problem. They had expected to find it difficult to spend so much time alone with each other but it had been surprisingly easy. They had plenty to talk about and they managed to find something interesting to do every day. And they found that they liked to study together, so there was really no room to get bored. They did miss their friends occasionally, but it was a lot less than they had expected.

It was about three days since they had taken their little break from school. They'd woken up in the morning, got ready for the day, had their breakfast and then they got their books out. But neither of them was in the mood to study.

"Let's get out of here," Harry said finally. "I think I'll go stir crazy if I stay in any longer."

"Let's walk down to Hogsmeade," Draco suggested. "We could shop a little, have lunch somewhere and get back sometime in the afternoon."

"That sounds like a date," Harry said.

Draco flushed a little. "I hadn't thought of it that way but it seems appropriate considering...everything."

"Okay," Harry said and they set out.

It was a beautiful day, sunny and cheerful. '_Perfect for walking_,' Harry thought. Draco reached for Harry and held his hand as they continued to walk. Harry was surprised but he didn't say anything and he didn't pull away either. He understood what Draco was trying to do. The suggestion that they go to Hogsmeade, the hand holding, it all added up.

"You're trying to get us to act more like a couple, huh?"

"We have to start somewhere," Draco replied. He sounded a bit defensive.

"You're right," Harry said. "And, I must say, you're dealing with this a lot better than I am."

"That is perhaps because I was raised to expect this. I always knew that I would not be able to choose the person that I married, and that I would have to find a way to make it work."

"But how could you just accept that? Didn't you ever feel like protesting?"

"I did, often, but I knew that nothing would come of it. My father would simply have disowned me if I had disobeyed him."

"And your mother?"

"She would have fought with my father but she wouldn't have been able to change his mind."

_'There it is again,'_ Harry thought as he heard the resentment in Draco's voice. "I hope I'm not crossing a line here but, you sound like you resent your father."

Draco was surprised by that statement. He hadn't expected Harry to want to talk about anything so personal. He sighed. '_This is not going to be easy,_' he thought.

"You haven't crossed a line, Harry, but I hope you realise that you're asking me to confide in you."

Harry hadn't realised that, he'd just been curious, but he wasn't about to insult Draco by telling him that. "Consider it a step forward in our relationship," he said softly. Besides, he really did want to know how Draco felt about his father.

They were now at the outskirts of the village. "Why don't we just sit here for a while?" Harry suggested as he led Draco towards a large tree. "It might make it easier to talk," he said, sitting down. This time it was Harry who reached for Draco's hand.

Draco raised his eyebrows. "I'm going to try if you are," Harry mumbled as he looked away.

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," he said when Draco didn't say anything for a couple of minutes..

Draco sighed. "This is very difficult to talk about..." he said, his voice shaking with the kind of emotion that he rarely displayed. Harry squeezed his hand in encouragement.

"But you're right. I resent my father. I looked up to him for most of my life, I believed the things he told me and I tried to make him proud of me. I failed most of the time and I grew up feeling like a disappointment and a failure. So when he told me to take the Dark Mark, I agreed without thinking. In fact, I was raised to obey rather than to think. Like a dog," Draco said. He sounded like he was disgusted with himself.

"And then he took me to Voldemort...I cannot tell you how horrible it was to meet him face to face that first time. He was so obviously a mad man, drunk with his desire for power and evil to the core. Five minutes into that meeting and all I wanted was to run away. I couldn't understand how my father could bring himself to kneel in front of that creature and call him Lord, but it was too late. And I was branded with this ugly thing that I'm going to carry around with me for the rest of my life. What a legacy for a father to give his son," Draco said bitterly.

"Then again, it is perhaps my own fault, considering how blindly I followed my father. I never questioned him or doubted him. I think that is what I resent most of all. Mum and I trusted him completely. Though he was autocratic and controlling, we never doubted that he would do what was best for us. And he sold us out and for what? More money? More power? We had enough of both," he added, his eyes filling with tears.

Harry moved closer to him and put his arms around Draco, holding him tight. He did it without thinking. It was a gesture of affection and concern and Draco was surprised to see how much it meant to him just then. He was desperate not to break down. It was bad enough that Harry had seen his tears. He held on and tried to regain his composure.

Harry could feel every bit of Draco's misery, his despair and his self disgust and it hurt. He didn't know why, maybe it was the bond that made him feel like that, but he couldn't bear to see Draco upset and hurting.

"I'm sorry," he said softly. "I'm sorry I pushed you talk about it."

"It's okay. I understand why you want to know how I feel about my father."

They sat there a little longer and then they got up and made their way into the village. Draco was still feeling very vulnerable from that conversation about his father so Harry took him to Honeydukes hoping that chocolate would cheer him up.

"How do you know I like chocolate?" Draco asked when they finally stepped out of the store with a large bag filled with the best of Huneydukes.

"You tend to learn a few things when you watch someone as closely as I used to watch you. I'm sure you know a lot of things about me too, though you may not be aware of it."

"Really? Like what?"

"Let's see... Okay. What is my favourite dessert?"

"Treacle tart," Draco answered almost without thinking.

"See."

"But that's just one thing."

"Okay. What is my favourite colour?"

"Most people would guess red but I think it's green," Draco said.

"Right again."

"Well this is a fun game. So, Harry, what is my favourite colour?"

"Silver," Harry answered without hesitation.

"Hmmm...You're right," he said when Harry continued to look at him with raised eyebrows.

"What's my favourite Quidditch team?" Harry asked.

"You let Weasley think that it's the Cannons but I think it is Puddlemore."

"See," Harry said again. "Your favourite team is the Falcons."

They went on like this for a while and it really helped lighten the mood. They walked around and shopped some more. Harry needed some parchment and there was a special quill that Draco said he wanted to look for. It was lunch time when they were done. Neither of them could abide the thought of eating at the Hog's Head or Madam Puddifoot's (God forbid) so they went to the Three Broomsticks. Harry had a word with Madam Rosmerta who led them to a room upstairs. It was small and cosy and there was just one table set by a large window. It was absolutely private, so they were able to spend a few quiet hours there eating and talking in peace.

"So, what's the story about your childhood?" Draco said. "You hinted at it once, when you said that your cousin used to bully you and that you hadn't had any friends until you came to Hogwarts."

"I'm surprised you remember all that."

"How could I not? It was such an unexpected thing to hear."

"Do you really want to know?"

"Yes, but I get the feeling that you don't want to talk about it."

"I never want to talk about it. It's too depressing..." Harry said and then he thought, '_What the hell? If Draco can be honest enough to tell me about his father I can share a bit of my childhood trauma with him.'_

And so he did. He told Draco about the way his uncle and aunt used to treat him, all the chores that they made him do, all those times that they'd lock him up in the cupboard, the hand me down clothes, the childhood without gifts, all those times that Dudley used to beat him up and make fun of him. He'd been pretty matter of fact when he started talking about all of this, but he found it hard to stay that way. He felt really bitter and angry by the time he finished.

Draco sensed this, of course, so he reached for Harry and held his hand. He was shocked by everything that he'd heard. He couldn't understand how those people could treat Harry like that. How could anyone be so cruel? He felt his heart clench when he thought of Harry as a small kid alone and unloved to the point that his relatives hadn't even cared enough to make sure that he was properly fed. He wondered how it was possible that Harry had grown up to be such a good person despite all that neglect. There was so much that Draco wanted to say but he realised that this was probably not the best time, so he kept his peace.

He wished he could do something to make Harry feel better. Harry had been so thoughtful when he'd got him that chocolate. He kept thinking about this all through lunch and then he had an idea.

...

They left the Three Broomsticks and made their way down the street. Harry assumed that they were going back to the school. At least, that's what he wanted to do. He was still feeling angry and he wanted to go back and do something normal like homework. So he was surprised and more than a little reluctant when Draco dragged him into Glenda's. '_Draco wants to buy clothes now? How many does he need? He's already a walking fashion magazine_,' he thought as he looked at Draco with as much appreciation as envy.

It was only when he saw Glenda walking over to him with a measuring tape in hand that he realised what was going on. "Wait, what? We're buying clothes for me?"

"No. I'm buying clothes for you," Draco said with a smirk.

"Er...why?"

"Because I want to."

Glenda was apparently used to such scenes in her store. She simply ignored their conversation, got her little book out and started writing down Harry's measurements as the tape did its work.

"Why?" Harry asked again.

"I know that you don't need me to buy you anything. I also know that you think you have all the clothes that you need. I disagree with that, by the way. I brought you here because I want to buy you some nice clothes and I wish you would just relax and enjoy yourself."

Harry had spent years wearing Dudley cast off clothes. He didn't have to do that anymore and yet all he had were clothes that were functional at best. He wasn't used to having money and he certainly wasn't used to spending it on himself. It was even more of a novelty to have someone else spend money on him. Why did Draco want to do this?

He was still wondering about that when Glenda walked over to him with two outfits in hand. Harry walked into the changing room and tried them on. He looked at himself in the mirror and he was astonished at the difference that those clothes made. He walked out of the changing room feeling a little self-conscious. Draco was leaning against the counter. His eyes widened when he saw Harry. '_He looks...hot!'_ Draco thought as he ran his eyes up and down Harry's body. He only noticed what he was doing when he saw the blush on Harry's face.

That only encouraged him to do it again. "Gorgeous," he said.

"Me or the outfit?" Harry asked before he could think it through. He kicked himself when he realised what he'd said.

Draco responded with a lazy smile. "Both."

Harry blushed some more. He realised that he was enjoying this little bit of flirting more than he would care to admit. He spent the next couple of hours trying on clothes. He'd expected to find it tedious, but it wasn't. It was the most fun he'd had in a long time. He'd never thought of himself as being particularly good looking, but those clothes made him feel like he might be. And he was more than a little gratified by the way Draco kept looking at him.

"Thank you," he said when they walked out of the store carrying more clothes than Harry had had in his entire life.

"Did you have fun?"

"Yes," Harry said and then he smiled. He looked really happy.

"Good. That's what I wanted," Draco said. "That and a chance to see you in clothes that actually fit," he added with a wink. Harry laughed and he reached for Draco's hand. It was a gesture that was starting to feel very familiar.

**...**

It was the morning of the next day and Draco woke up after another blissful night of sleep. He opened his eyes and found himself almost nose to nose with Harry who was obviously still asleep. This was the position that they found themselves in when they woke up every day. Draco would usually move away from Harry and get back to his own side of the bed, but today, for some reason, he didn't. He stayed where he was and took advantage of the rare opportunity to really look at Harry's face.

He found himself admiring the beautifully tanned skin, the long black lashes, the strong line of the jaw and those surprisingly full lips. He found his eyes lingering on Harry's mouth as he fought the urge to reach out and run his thumb gently across those lips. And then Harry shifted in his sleep...he snuggled up to Draco and put his arm around him.

Draco couldn't help but notice how good it felt to have Harry so close to him and how warm it made him feel to have Harry's arm curled almost possessively around him. He put his arm around Harry as well and he was delighted to see Harry smile almost as if in response. He knew that Harry was asleep and that he couldn't possibly be aware of what was happening, much less respond to it, but still, it was nice to see him smile. Draco was still watching Harry and wondering what it would be like to kiss him when Harry woke up.

He stirred in his sleep feeling deliciously comfortable. He opened his eyes and he was startled to see Draco looking at him. He had obviously been awake for a while. Harry was surprised and more than a little pleased that, instead of getting up or moving away, Draco had chosen to stay in bed holding Harry close to him. They stayed like that for a while, looking at each other and breathing softly. Neither of them said anything and the silence grew and filled the room with unspoken thoughts and questions. They began to realise that something had changed between them in the course of the previous day.

The silence was broken by a tapping on the window—it was an owl. Draco propped himself up on his arm and saw that it was his mother's owl. _She would have heard about that episode in Professor_ _McGonagall's office and she's probably written a long letter chastising me for not taking the bond_ _seriously enough_, he thought as he reluctantly got out of bed to open the window and let the bird in. He absently fed her an Owl Treat as he opened the letter. Harry watched him for a couple of minutes and then he got out of bed as well and made his way into the bathroom. He showered and got dressed and then he stepped out to find a letter waiting for him too.

It was from Molly who had plenty to say on the subject of stubborn boys who are supposed to be grown up but still manage to be silly enough to ignore the advice of their elders and risk their health and well being just because they are not mature enough to deal with a relationship. "Don't be so rigid in your thinking, Harry. You assumed that you'd end up with a girl. You hoped that you would fall in love but things didn't work out like that. You are bonded to Draco and you have to spend the rest of your life with him so don't you think it might be a good idea to try and make things work with him? There is no saying how it will turn out. You might be very happy with him; you might even fall in love with him. That may sound ridiculous to you now but I hope that you will allow for the possibility at least," she had said in her letter and Harry had to admit that she had a point.

He was still thinking about this when Draco stepped out of the bathroom. His hair was wet and he was towelling it dry. He looked charmingly dishevelled. Harry found it hard to take his eyes off him. He was still staring when Draco said, "Like what you see, Potter?" He had his head tilted to the side and he looked amused.

Harry blushed, of course, and then it was Draco's turn to stare. There was something about Harry looking back at him with a hint of pink on his cheeks that appealed to him immensely. They continued to stare at each other as the tension in the room grew. And then there was a loud crack—the kind that always accompanies the appearance of a house-elf. Winky greeted them both and started setting the table for breakfast as Draco and Harry looked away from each other and wondered what would have happened if she hadn't showed up just then.

Harry put away his letter and took his place at the table. "Looks like Mrs Weasley had plenty to say, just like my mother," Draco said dryly.

"Hmmm...Did your mum tell you to grow up and man up too?" Harry said with a slight grimace.

"Not in those words, but that was the gist of it. She said that I have to stop acting juvenile and take responsibility and do what I have to do to make this relationship work."

They were silent for a few minutes after that. They were both wondering where they were going to go from here and how. They kept glancing at each other every now and then. Harry couldn't believe that he had never noticed how gorgeous Draco was. He watched him push his blond hair out of eyes and he had a crazy desire to run his fingers through that hair and then down the side of his face. He wanted to gently trace the line of those lips and— He turned away when Draco looked up only to glance at him again after a few seconds.

Harry couldn't help but notice just how elegant Draco was even when he was doing something perfectly ordinary like eating breakfast. Everything from the way he sat at the table to the way he held his fork and spoon and the way he ate his food. It was all so graceful.

Draco had noticed Harry glancing at him every few seconds and he was absurdly pleased. He found that he really enjoyed the attention and, much as he would have liked to tease Harry, he chose not to, because he didn't want Harry to get embarrassed and stop looking at him. He pretended to be absorbed in their conversation and let Harry believe that his attention had gone unnoticed. It made him very happy to know that his growing attraction and fondness for Harry had some hope of being returned.

They finished their breakfast and then they got their books out. They tried to study but they really couldn't focus. They were both aware of their growing attraction to each other and they were desperate to do something about it. They could feel each other's desire through the bond and it made them crazy, but neither of them knew what to do. They pretended to study and they had conversations that made no sense to either of them. The hours dragged on and on. They went for a walk; they talked about everything under the sun except the one thing that was on their minds.

'_I guess this is what Molly meant when she called me immature_,' Harry thought.

'_No wonder Mum thinks I'm juvenile_,' Draco thought.

Finally it was bedtime. They lay in bed the way they usually did, each on his own side. Then they turned to look at each other. '_I'm going to explode if I don't kiss_ _him right now_,' Draco thought.

'_I can't stand this distance anymore. I'm dying to touch him!_' Harry thought as they continued to stare at each other.

Finally, they snapped. They didn't know who moved first, but suddenly they were in each other's arms kissing with all the passion they had tried to repress all day. It felt like they couldn't bear to be away from each other for one more second. It was an explosion of emotions and sensations that made them feel incredibly happy and completely overwhelmed. They lost all awareness of time as they lay in bed holding each other close and kissing as their hands roamed over each other's bodies. They could feel their magic pulse around them every time that they touched.

They pulled away from each after a while and tried to catch their breaths while trying to process everything that had just happened. They each knew everything that the other was feeling, but there were words that just had to be said. Harry wanted to tell Draco that he liked him very much, but those words sounded inadequate when he considered everything that he was feeling. Draco was wondering if it really possible that he was already in love with Harry. And then he realised that he may not be in love yet, but he was definitely getting there.

"We need to talk," Harry said.

Draco nodded. He was suddenly very nervous. Harry was not much better, but he found the Gryffindor in him and asked the question.

"What do you feel for me, Draco?" he said. "Is all this real or it just about the bond?"

"It's not just the bond," Draco whispered.

"It's not just the bond for me either," Harry said softly.

"I think I'm falling in love with you, Harry," Draco said, having finally found his courage.

'_Yes. That's what it is. That is what I'm feeling_,' Harry thought. "I think I'm falling in love with you too," he said.

It took them a couple of seconds to process that. Then they broke out in smiles of utter relief as they reached for each other again. It was a long time before they went to sleep that night, feeling extremely glad that they had another couple of days to spend with each other before they had to go back to facing the world.

**...**

They woke up the next morning feeling incredibly happy and very pleased with themselves. They spent the morning in bed, talking and laughing and kissing when the mood took them. There seemed to be so much that they had to say to each other. So many little moments and memories to share. Harry was sitting up in bed and leaning against the headboard while Draco was lying with his head in Harry's lap. He ran his fingers gently through the silvery blond hair and Draco nearly purred in response.

"I love you," he said as he looked right into Harry's eyes feeling a bit amazed that he was allowed to say that.

"I love you too," Harry said.

"You have the most beautiful eyes that I've ever seen," Draco said as he gazed into bright green eyes that had an edge of gold to them. A fact that he had only just noticed. "They are a very unusual shade of green and they're quite breathtaking to look at."

"Really?"

"Yes, really," Draco said as he reached up to kiss Harry on his nose.

Harry laughed as he continued to run his fingers through Draco's hair that seemed to glow almost. "This is rapidly becoming my favourite thing to do," he said.

"Good...Because I love it when you do that."

They slipped into a contented silence for a while after that. And then...

"Harry..."

"Hmmm..."

"Have you ever been in a relationship with anyone other than Ginevra?" Draco asked.

"Yes. Though it was so brief that I'm not sure that you can call it a relationship. I dated Cho Chang for a couple of months back in fifth year."

"And it ended because..."

"Because there was nothing there. I thought I liked her, but it was just an infatuation that went away pretty quickly once I got to know her."

"What about you?" Harry said. "Have you been with anyone other than Pansy?"

"No."

"No? Wasn't there anyone you fancied?"

"Not really, no. Besides, I was already betrothed to her, so what would've been the point? I may not have wanted to marry her, but she's my best friend. I couldn't insult her by going around with someone else."

Harry could think of plenty of teenagers who wouldn't have cared about something like that. They would have gone out and had their fun. He'd seen plenty of guys and girls in Gryffindor "live it up" as they called it. Even Ron, steady as he was, had had his bit of craziness with Lavender. Harry had never done anything like that and he'd never been able to understand it. He realised now that Draco was the same. He had an old fashioned sense of honour and loyalty that Harry appreciated very much.

**...**

The next three days flew by. They spent a lot of that time in bed but they also talked and studied and found something or the other to do together every day. Draco found Harry to be warm and passionate and very giving. Once he accepted the fact that he was in love with Draco, he did not hold anything back. Harry, for his part, found that Draco was just the kind of partner that he wanted and needed; someone who was strong and mature and not afraid to step up or to speak his mind. And someone who didn't care a fig that he was Harry Potter. He loved and appreciated him for being Harry, not 'the boy who lived'.

And then it was time to get back to school and their friends and life beyond the little cocoon that they had built around themselves over the past week. They wondered how their friends would react to the fact that they were together and very much in love.

"Hermione will be surprised, but she will accept it. Ron will hate it, but he'll come around. He always does," Harry said.

"I don't think either Blaise or Pansy will have any problem understanding or accepting this, but the rest of Slytherin house as well as the rest of the wizarding world will hate it."

Harry sighed. "I know and I'm sorry. But I don't care about any of that. I don't care what people think of us. They'll just have to get used to it."

That was the attitude with which they faced everyone when the time friends reacted exactly as they had expected. Hermione was understanding and supportive and Ron was not angry, exactly, but he was thrown by the whole thing and he just didn't know how to react. He'd never been very good at dealing with change. That the bond could not be broken was a big enough blow without having to accept that Harry could voluntarily want to be with Draco. It took him a while, but he did come around in the end.

Pansy and Blaise had some difficulty believing that it was actually possible for Harry and Draco, who were as different from each other as it was possible for two people to be (at least in their minds), could end up being in love with each other. But they had never seen Draco as happy as he was now and that was really all that they cared about.

There were articles in the papers over the next few days questioning Harry's sanity and Draco's morals. A lot of what was written about them was very offensive. But they didn't care. They knew why they wanted to be together and they didn't feel the need to explain themselves to anyone. The two people who were the happiest to hear the news were Molly and Narcissa who came over to the school to congratulate their boys. They were thrilled that they had finally seen sense and they were most excited now that they had bonding ceremony to plan. After all, it was going to be the wedding of the century.

...

**A/N: Well people that was my little H/D bonding story. It is a cliché that I have long been fond of and I am so glad I got a chance to write this. If you read it and you like it, please let me know. It'll make my day...**


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